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Ottawa researchers develop rapid review process to help WHO respond to global threats
December 22, 2016
Ms. Chantelle Garritty and collaborators in the
Knowledge Synthesis Group
have developed a process to help the World Health Organization (WHO) quickly create guidelines during global emergencies.
During an outbreak of a new disease, WHO needs to analyze all available data before it can provide public health recommendations. Often these recommendations have to be made within hours or days of the event. This is not enough time to do a traditional systematic review of all the existing evidence, which can take up to one to two years to complete.
Instead, the team drew upon the principles of “rapid reviews” to help guide the individuals who draft WHO’s emergency recommendations, as described in the
Journal of Clinical Epidemiology
. Rapid reviews are being used more and more by health-care policymakers, however they often take shortcuts that may affect the accuracy of their results.
Ms. Garritty and Ms. Adrienne Stevens, both PhD students working with Dr. David Moher, have also helped form and lead the
Cochrane Rapid Reviews Methods Group
, which will research rapid reviews and create evidence-based ways to conduct them.
Authors:
Garritty CM, Norris SL, Moher D, Stevens A, Gartlehner G, King V, Kamel C.
Funding:
World Health Organization, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, The Ottawa Hospital Foundation
The Ottawa Hospital: Inspired by research. Driven by compassion
The Ottawa Hospital is one of Canada’s largest learning and research hospitals with over 1,100 beds, approximately 12,000 staff and an annual budget of over $1.2 billion. Our focus on research and learning helps us develop new and innovative ways to treat patients and improve care. As a multi-campus hospital, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, we deliver specialized care to the Eastern Ontario region, but our techniques and research discoveries are adopted around the world. We engage the community at all levels to support our vision for better patient care. See www.ohri.ca for more information about research at The Ottawa Hospital.
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is home to over 50,000 students, faculty and staff, who live, work and study in both French and English. Our campus is a crossroads of cultures and ideas, where bold minds come together to inspire game-changing ideas. We are one of Canada’s top 10 research universities—our professors and researchers explore new approaches to today’s challenges. One of a handful of Canadian universities ranked among the top 200 in the world, we attract exceptional thinkers and welcome diverse perspectives from across the globe. www.uottawa.ca
For further information, please contact
Amelia Buchanan
Senior Communication Specialist
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Office: 613-798-5555 x 73687
Cell: 613-297-8315
ambuchanan@ohri.ca
Tags:
Global health
,
Infectious disease
,
Rapid reviews
,
Systematic reviews